...Hallyu began roughly 12 years ago when the rest of Asia discovered Korean soap operas. One of the breakthrough dramas was a series 'Winter Sonata' starring Choi Ji-woo & Bae Young-Joon. After that, more Korean dramas saw their way to foreign shores and Korean films and music started to follow suit. Korean marketing people started to see a Korea-centric trend. They dubbed this flow "The Korean Wave" or Hallyu....

On August 29th, it was announced that actress Takimoto Miori will be starring in the live-action drama adaptation of famed author Miyabe Miyuki’s mystery novel ‘Perfect Blue‘.

It will be Takimoto’s first time to have a sole starring role in a drama on a commercial network. Moreover, TBS will be airing the drama in prime time, which makes it an even greater opportunity for the young actress.

The story revolves around the all-female ‘Hasumi Detective Agency’, where Takimoto plays one of the female detectives named ‘Hasumi Kayoko’. The agency is run by her mother ‘Hasumi Kyoko’ (Zaizen Naomi). Terawaki Yasufumi is going to play the owner of a bar close to the agency. Another female detective will be played by Hirayama Aya, while the agency’s personal guard – a former police dog by the name of ‘Masa’ will be voiced by Funakoshi Eiichiro.

‘Perfect Blue’ was Miyabe’s first long novel and was released in 1989. In 2010, WOWOW already adapted it into a TV movie starring Kato Rosa, which was also screened in cinemas nationwide for a whole week. However, this time they are changing parts of the story by adding characters and elements from Miyabe’s other novel ‘Kokoro Torokasu Youna: Masa no Jikenbo‘, hence the addition of a speaking dog.

The producer stated, “While using the original novels as its base, we will try to add some bold arrangements to make it more modern, without ruining what makes Miyabe’s novels so great, such as her individual social viewpoint and her warm depiction of each person in her stories.”

He seems to be especially fond of the unique duo of a rookie female detective and a former police dog. He said, “With such universal hero-like characters, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is going to be turned into a longer series.”

Takimoto commented, “I’m really happy that I was picked for this drama. I’ve always wanted to co-star with a dog, so it’s going to feel like a dream come true. I hope I’ll grow accustomed to my lovely partner quickly.”

She also revealed that she’s not really the type that can guess who’s the criminal in mystery dramas, but that doesn’t she’s going to make it easier for the viewers. She said, “I hope it can be a drama that is gradually able to drag its viewers into the story and keep them on the edge of their seats all the time.”

TBS is going to air ‘Perfect Blue’ every Monday at 8:00 pm, starting on October 8th.